After practicing the art of negative capability, Mercury, the planet of perception moves forward in Aries on Saturday, April 3rd. Looking becomes forward looking. A type of looking that generates excitement. A perception that is fond of future and its yet-to-be contents. When Mercury moves into Aries it becomes clear how great it is to anticipate.
Numerous psychological studies performed in 2007 (professors, Leaf Van Boven and Laurence Ashworth) reported people feeling more intense feelings when contemplating future events than when reflecting on things that already happened. Prospective holidays far outranked the levels of excitement and happiness than the reflected-upon past holidays, even the most satisfying ones.
Anticipation underlies optimism and hope. It provides momentum, and works wonders even in its most simple practices.
To see through the eyes of the Ram is to see the future in lit-up pieces.
Plato saw vision as a a smooth and gentle outward-flowing fire that was emitted from the eye to fuse with ambient light and create a “body of vision.” Empedocles also believed this but added that the fire of the eye was lit by Venus herself.
While science agrees little with this theory of vision, psychologically there is something here. Venus, with her delights, “light” our visions of future events. There may in fact exist an outward-flow of fire when it comes to an important type of vision; the vision of looking forward, the fire of anticipation.
Aries’ forward-fire is more alive when contemplating the future because it is only in the future that we can experience hope. Jean Jacques-Rousseau said “anticipation and hope are natural born twins.” The strength of the Ram is the strength of the Will, again connecting fire to future, as in “I will..”
Fire mixed with future is what nurtures the Japanese concept of “Ikigai (pronounced icky guy), which is seen to be a key to longevity. Ikigai translates most literally into “a reason to get out of bed every morning.” It is a dynamic sense of well-being, one that hinges on a relationship to the immediate (and also faraway) future.
The Sun and Venus have been relearning many active principles, and Mercury is the latest to join the springtime party. The trickster looks forward to looking forward, and experiencing what Camus called “the sweet pain of anticipation to tell us we are really alive.”
How will you ignite some anticipation in your life?
Mercury will anticipate in Aries until April 19th when it will embrace itself in Taurus.
Happy anticipating and happy astro pondering!
Astro Art by Johnnie Day Durand.
Nature's Zodiac 
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